Ending Religious Violence in India

Members of the All India Christian Council launched an initiative on Dec. 12, 2011, to raise awareness of the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill, a measure aimed at curbing violence against religious minorities. John Dayal, general secretary of the council, said the bill is urgently needed “to put an end to hate campaigns and to restore confidence [among] minorities.” According to the council, the proposed law strives to provide justice for victims of religious violence, discourage hate speech, censure violent behavior by extremist religious groups and hold law enforcement officials accountable for not stopping or for abetting the violence. Over the past four years close to 4,000 violent acts against religious minorities have occurred in India.